for everything they don't tell you about!

Time…

For All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25

Time: The one thing we all have and can be the most abused gift we are given. I am guilty as most of us are and this morning I had my wake-up call that got me thinking.

I start my day’s normally at 6:00am when my expensive alarm clock, Cooper, goes off. I get up, change him, and we set out to the kitchen to make our “coffee”. I let the pups out and give them water. When they come in Coop and I head to the living room to cuddle, or his version of it, on the couch while I watch the news and we drink our coffee (his is milk of course). We will sit normally for fifteen or so minutes then he is ready to move and shake to the music of Mickey Mouse. I will put him in his pack-n-play and he sings and dances while I check my social media accounts, blog etc. I make breakfast of some sort every day and get ready for work while breakfast is cooking. My mom gets to the house around 8 and we eat and chat then I finish getting ready. I give everyone hugs and kisses and head out for the day.

This morning I was running late because I couldn’t find my coffee mug which added an extra two minutes. I was a bit annoyed by it but let it go because it’s real life, right.

So I finally get out of the house, backing out of the garage watching mom and Coop in the doorway blowing kisses, thinking I love them so incredibly much and am so blessed. I turn on the main road and prepare to turn at the intersection and a truck runs the red light and hits the car two in front of me. Two cars! I immediately called 911 of course and took a few big deep breaths. Once I hung up the phone I took a moment to thank God that he was looking out for me and if it hadn’t been for that darn coffee mug, that could have been me. No one seemed to be injured but the car’s front end was completely torn off. It was definitely a bad day for the driver.

I called my mom and told her what happened and I said that this isn’t the first time that God has looked out for me and helped me avoid an accident. I then started thinking about my morning routine and where my time goes, also through the day and again where my time goes.

I thought about the mornings that I spend time on social media while I could be continuing to hang out with Coop or calling a loved one. I take for granted that those moments will always be there when in all actuality, they won’t. Coop will get older and cuddling with mama will not be priority. People will pass on from this world and we will not have the opportunity to talk to them again.

Some say it’s only fifteen or twenty minutes on your social media account, not a big deal. That is just at that point in time. How about the time all day? I pulled some statistics (of course I did) and was a little taken back by the numbers. While this is good for people that depend on people to be on social media the numbers are shocking. According to Social Media Today, teens now spend up to nine hours a day on social platforms, while 30% of all time spent online is now allocated to social media interaction. The average person will spend nearly two hours on social media every day! This statistic didn’t include Pinterest which I can guarantee would make the time spent jump up tremendously!

Currently, total time spent on social media beats time spent eating, drinking, socializing and grooming.

So, if I had to take a guess how much time I am on social media a day I would say at least three hours. This includes writing for my blog etc. Three hours that I could redirect elsewhere and make that time count for something.

I made a conscious decision today that things are going to change. I am going to spend less time on all social media platforms and more time with and on the people I love. I am not going to tinker on my phone while at home more than 30 minutes a day and when hanging out with Coop or Heath the phone will be put away. We already have a no phones during dinner policy so that is not a habit to break.

Life truly is short. We often don’t like to think about it, but this really could be our last day to live. Tomorrow is promised to no one and I want to love and live to the fullest! When I leave this world one day I want people to remember that I always had or made time for them, not that my social media accounts were awesome. I challenge each of you to evaluate your time, your children’s time, on social media and start replacing that with face to face interaction. You can keep reading my blog though haha!

I pulled this info-graphic from MediaKix and thought it was a good visual.